feverish

American  

[fee-ver-ish] / ˈfi vər ɪʃ /

adjective

1. having fever.

2. pertaining to, of the nature of, or resembling fever.

   a feverish excitement.

3. excited, restless, or uncontrolled, as if from fever.

   Synonyms:

   worked-up, fervent, impatient, frenzied

4. having a tendency to produce fever.

---

feverish British  

/ ˈfiːvərɪʃ /

adjective

1. suffering from fever, esp a slight fever

2. in a state of restless excitement

3. of, relating to, caused by, or causing fever

---

Other Word Forms

• feverishly adverb
• feverishness noun
• nonfeverish adjective
• nonfeverishness noun
• pseudofeverish adjective
• unfeverish adjective

Etymology

Origin of feverish

First recorded in 1350–1400, feverish is from the Middle English word feverisch. See fever, -ish ¹

Example Sentences

She was still feverish, and her temperature was climbing.

From Literature

Sleep had healed some of her feverish look.

From Literature

Neither lack for words, as they run through their grievance-filled monologues with a feverish mix of guilt and fury.

From Los Angeles Times

The final round had both swinging for the rafters and the crowd rose to their feet in feverish anticipation.

From BBC

With almost no advance promotion, on Thanksgiving “Heated Rivalry” hit streaming services—including HBO Max in the U.S., and the Bell Media-owned service Crave in Canada—where it immediately hooked a feverish audience.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• fevered
• frantic
• frenetic
• frenzied
• furious
• heated
• hectic
• obsessive
• passionate
• restless